


Just Drop It

by Tamasha



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Boyfriends, Bullying, Dating, Falling In Love, Feels, Gay, Happy Ending, Homophobic Language, Light Angst, M/M, Modern Era, One Shot, Protective Arthur, Relationship(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 08:06:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4471694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamasha/pseuds/Tamasha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin passes by the smokers Cenred and Valiant every day after school and they always bother him, but today, they take it a step further. When he gets home, though, Arthur is waiting for him, and tends to his wounds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Drop It

**Author's Note:**

> written by Tamara

Merlin walked the same path home from school every day. Every day, he passed Valiant and Cenred. The two cut class often and would take the final period to smoke off campus. Merlin could easily have found a different route home, but this was the quickest and he wasn’t one to back down, especially from bullies. They didn't deserve to win, even if this was a battle Merlin didn’t willingly enter into.

“Oi, fag. Come here.” Merlin kept walking. “Hey, Mer-lame, we are talking to you.” They weren’t very creative boys.

In an instant, the sidewalk came up to Merlin’s face - or the otherway around, probably. Merlin couldn’t think straight. His head was throbbing and his back hurt. He realized, when he sat up, that they had thrown something at him - one of their backpacks or something. Merlin rubbed his head, not knowing if he should move or just sit there and let it happen. If he let them have this win, maybe they would leave him alone for some time.

“Why didn’t you stop, gay-boy?” It was Cenred talking; he did most of the talking. He wasn’t as big as Valiant, so he used his friend as back up, or muscle-support. No doubt it was Valiant who threw the bag.

“Sorry, didn’t hear you.” Merlin offered a cheeky smile but could guess that with the blood streaming down his face it wasn’t having the desired effect.

Valiant jerked Merlin from the ground and brought him up to their level. “When we say stop, you stop.”

“Thanks, I didn’t understand what you wanted me to do, but now that you’ve taken the time to explain -” Merlin got a punch to his ribs for that.

“Don’t let it happen again, smart-ass.” Cenred nodded at Valiant who promptly dropped an unprepared Merlin to the ground. He rolled to his side and tried to hide the wince on his face.

After he was certain they had gone, Merlin searched for his things and continued on his way, hoping beyond hope that Arthur was not waiting for him when he got home. Then again, Arthur would be better than his mother. Well, then again… Merlin didn’t know which of the two was more protective of him. Merlin smiled at the thought; he really liked Arthur.

They attended different schools and lived nearly a half hour away from each other - which, if you don’t have a car, was very far - but that didn’t stop them from seeing each other at least four times a week. It was usually Arthur who was able to come to Merlin; he could use his dad’s car most of the time. That was, if Uther didn’t know about it. It would not be unusual to see Arthur waiting for Merlin on his front porch when he came home. If Merlin didn’t like him so much, he would say that Arthur was clingy. They hadn’t officially used the word ‘boyfriend’ but they might as well have; they had been seeing each other for three months.

Merlin decided he could deal with the fuss Arthur would certainly throw upon seeing his almost-boyfriend in the state he was in; as long as that meant he could see Arthur, he would be happy. The walk home felt longer than normal and Merlin attributed that more to his anxiousness brought on by the possibility of seeing Arthur than to the pain in his side and head. But he knew the latter was true, even if the former was still a likely candidate.

As he expected, there was a blond senior sitting on his front porch. Arthur wasn’t looking in Merlin’s direction, so Merlin decided to plan a sneak attack. Unfortunately, subtlety was certainly not one of Merlin’s strong suits. He tripped over a branch, stumbled on his cat, and ‘oofed’ when he hit the ground, rattling the bush he was trying to hide behind. “Fuck,” he murmured under his breath.

Arthur was up in an instant, knowing that Merlin had certainly hurt himself. “Merlin, you idiot. What are you doing?”

“I was trying to surprise you.” Merlin brushed the leaves off his clothes and straightened himself out to look at his... at Arthur. “Surprise!” Merlin raised his arms and grinned wildly.

The response from Arthur, though not ideal, was not a surprise. “Shit, Merlin, did you just do that?” But the blood was dry now, and Merlin knew Arthur wasn’t stupid. Besides, he couldn’t see himself lying anyway.

“No, I… don’t worry about it, I just kinda... “ Merlin looked into Arthur’s deeply worried blue eyes. “You should see the other guy,” he joked, but it fell flat on Arthur.

“Come here.” Arthur took Merlin’s chin, gently, in his hand. With his other hand, he cupped the back of Merlin’s head. “What happened?”

Merlin pulled his face away from Arthur and tried to say, ‘I don’t need you to coddle me.’ But there was another voice that was trying to say, ‘Aww, you care about my well-being, what a romantic gesture.’ Yet neither seemed to be fitting at the moment, so Merlin settled on, “You’re cute.”

“Merlin!” Arthur groaned, knowing he was changing the subject.

“Arthur!” Merlin echoed and gave a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. It was just some kids from school. They got what was coming to them though - I bet I bruised Valiant’s first with my ribs!”

Arthur’s hand instinctively shot out to Merlin’s waist. “Fuck, was this on the way home from school?” Merlin nodded, knowing his jokes were futile at this point; Arthur was too concerned. “Did you tell a teacher, call the cops? Merlin, how did this happen?”

“It was bound to happen eventually. They always bother me when I walk home from school. Today they just.. I don’t know, succeeded?”

Arthur scowled and took Merlin’s backpack from him. “How long has this been going on for?” Merlin shrugged. Arthur rolled his eyes. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” His hand still on the back of Merlin’s head, Arthur pulled him along, while tousling the hair on the back of Merlin’s head.

Once inside, Merlin’s head really started to ache. He didn’t know if it was the change of light, the stuffy room, or Arthur’s misplaced affections, but he suddenly started to feel worse. Arthur put Merlin’s backpack in his room, and then returned with some bandaids. Merlin wasn’t sure where he had found bandaids, but given the state of Merlin’s room, he wouldn’t be surprised at anything that came out of it. It was like an overstuffed thrift store in there, where everything was on sale.

Arthur wordlessly guided Merlin to sit him down on the bathtub rim. “You don’t need to do this, Arthur,” Merlin protested. Weakly.

“Shut up, Merlin.” He went to work; first taking off Merlin’s jacket, slowly, then brushing Merlin’s dark brown hair from his eyes. “Do you have something to clean it with?" Merlin shrugged. Arthur rolled his eyes.

After a moment, Arthur was back with some hydrogen peroxide, which made Merlin’s face scrunch up. “Anything but that.”

“Merlin, don’t be a baby. It’s not that bad. You don’t want it to get infected, do you?”

“It was only the concrete sidewalk,” Merlin whined, “there can’t be many germs there!”

Arthur laughed despite himself. “Okay, you ready?”

“No.”

“One, two…”

“I said ‘no’.”

“Three.”

“Ow!” Merlin cried, but Arthur’s hands were around Merlin’s head, caressing his earlobes slowly. He relaxed into the touch. “Okay that wasn’t so bad.”

Arthur smiled and kissed Merlin’s nose. “I told you.”

Merlin leaned his forehead onto Arthur’s and closed his eyes. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome," Arthur moaned, then sat Merlin up again and pulled out the bandaids. Gently, he placed a purple dinosaur shaped bandaid over Merlin’s wound. He looked so handsome in the dimly lit bathroom. Arthur always looked handsome, but he especially looked good with the little crease between his eyes, with his worried look that was downright adorable, if Merlin did say so himself.

“You are the best boyfriend ever.” Merlin said it before he processed the weight of those words, but instead of a surprised look, Arthur just responded with a smile.

“I’m pretty great sometimes, but you are a better boyfriend.” He helped Merlin to his feet and put the bandages in the medicine cabinet. Merlin noted that that was probably the proper place for them, but he’d be moving them as soon as Arthur left.

Merlin rubbed his bandaged head. “And you’re a decent nurse. Any other talents I don’t know about?”

“Many,” Arthur stated simply. “Now, are you going to tell me what happened, or am I going to have to call your mother?”

Merlin groaned. “They are just some bullies that are always smoking on the sidewalk right outside of school. They know I’m gay, and apparently that upsets them for some unknown fucking reason. I don’t know what you want me to say. They are just assholes, and I couldn't do much about it.”

The bathroom fell silent - even the fan in the ceiling had stopped, but it always died out after being left on for more than five minutes. “Where can I find these assholes?” Arthur asked through gritted teeth.

It was inappropriate to laugh, but Merlin wanted to. Arthur’s face had gone adorably red. But Merlin repressed his smile. “It’s fine. Really. Arthur, please. Just drop it.”

“I’m not going to drop it, Merlin. What did they do? What did they say?” He was flustered.

Merlin knew it would do neither of them any good if Merlin answered those questions. He understood Arthur’s anger, because if the roles were reversed Merlin would be throwing a fit too. But he knew what Arthur would do if he was in Merlin’s situation. He need to calm Arthur down, because really, it was Arthur who was more affected by this than Merlin. “Remember how we just said we were boyfriends?”

“Merlin!”

“I liked that. Can we go back to that?”

“Merlin…” He was calmer now. Merlin took his shaking hands and led him out of the bathroom. “What’s going on?”

“Shh,” Merlin hushed. “I’m taking my boyfriend downstairs to kiss him properly.”

“Merlin, what are you doing?”

Merlin stopped, halfway down the stairs. “Nothing. I just want to show my boyfriend something on the couch.”

“Are you going to stop using that word?”

Merlin didn’t even have enough doubt in him to fake a pause to think about it. “Never,” he said with such confidence it surprised even him.

“Good,” Arthur chuckled and pulled Merlin in for a quick kiss. “Now what is it you want to show me on the couch?”

Merlin shrugged. Arthur rolled his eyes.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I can’t remember the inspiration for this one, but for some reason I love putting them in high school. Also, protective Arthur is always a favorite. Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
